Tube, pipe, or cylinder coating machine.



No. 792,394. PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905. A. W. BUCHANAN. TUBE, PIPE, QR CYLINDER COATING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION I'ILED JULY 27,1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905.

A. W. BUCHANAN. TUBE, PIPE, 0R CYLINDER COATING MACHINE.

ilNiTEp STATES Patented June 13, 1905.

PATENT OTTIcE.

ALEXANDER WVATSON BUCHANAN, OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,394, dated June 13, 1905.

Application filed July 27, 1903. Serial No. 167,114.

To (6Z7, whom it 17mn concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER WVA'rsoN BUCHANAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Tube, Pipe, or Cylinder Coating Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine designed for coating tubes, pipes, or cylinders with a paint, enamel, or composition.

The machine is particularly designed for coating pipes with a composition of asphaltum or pitch.

Heretofore a common method of coating pipes has been to dip the pipe into the coating material, which, if heated, is likely to produce undesirable results. For instance, in coating pipes constructed of paper and asphaltum if the pipe is immersed in the heated coating compound of pitch or asphaltum the walls of the pipe are softened to such a degree as to require careful handling.

An important object of the present invention is to provide means for coating the pipes without immersing them. and to thus avoid the foregoing undesirable results.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide means for coating the pipes evenly and to apply the composition to the external surface of the pipe only, so as to leave the interior of the pipe clean.

Another object is to provide means for maintaining the desired heat and liquidity of the coating mixture, as some compositions require to be applied while hot and of a definite liquidity.

Another object is to provide means for hardening the composition after it has been applied, so that when the pipe is delivered from the machine the coating is in good condition for handling without likelihood of injury to the pipe or coating.

Another object is to provide means for coating the pipes with greater facility, with less labor, and with greater economy than has heretofore been attained.

A further object is to provide means for coating a pipe without holding it in any chuck or other clamping device, but leaving the pipe freely accessible to the operator to be placed in or removed from the coating apparatus.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and referring to the same Figure I is a perspective view showing one form-of the machine with a portion of the receiving-rack broken away. Fig. II is a perspective view of another form of machine. Fig. III is a transverse section through the upper part of the form of machine shown in Fig. I. Fig. IV is a plan view of that end of the machine which carries the driving-gearing. Fig. V is a perspective showing another form of means for supporting the pipe during the cooling process. Fig. VI is a perspective view showing a modified construction of the coating-rolls.

Briefly, the invention comprises means for coating a pipe while the pipe is being rotated, so that the coating is applied evenly, and means for rotating the pipe while cooling the coating in hardening to prevent the coating from flowing in such a way as to form an uneven surface. When the composition is of a nature which requires to be heated when applied, means are provided for maintaining the composition in liquid form and at the ten1perature desired, although obviously when paints or compositions are used which do not require heat intheir application the employment of the heating means may be dispensed with. When the coating is applied in a heated condition and which when cooled hardenssuch, for instance, as a composition of asphaltum or pitchmeans are provided for cooling the coating, thereby hardening the same immediately after the pipe has been coated and before the pipe is delivered from the machine to the receiving-rack. Obviously, the cooling means may be dispensed with when the applied coating is of a nature which does not require heating to apply.

1 designates the supporting-bed, which may be of masonry, if desired, and adapted for use as a fire-box. Mounted upon the bed. 1 is a reservoir-2, which contains the paint or composition with which the tubes or pipes are to be coated.

3 designates a pair of arms, one at each end of the machine, which are pivotally supported by a shaft A, which shaft is supported in suitable journals 5, which may be mounted on the reservoir 2.

6 is a coating-roll mounted upon the shaft 4:. 7 is a similar coating-roll having a shaft 8, which is journaled in the ends of the arms 3.

9 designates a pulley on the shaft 4.

10 and 11 are sprockets mounted, respectively, on shafts 8 and 4:, which may be connected by suitable power-transmitting mechanism, as a chain 12.

As the pulley 9 is driven the coating-roll 6 is rotated and picks up the mixture from the reservoir 2, so that the face of the roll 6 when in operation is always covered with a film of the composition. The coating-roll 7 is likewise rotated and kept supplied with the composition. Said rolls 6 and 7 are parallel and are adapted to support a pipe laid therebetween. The pipe, tube, cylinder, or other object to be coated is placed upon the coatingrolls 6 and 7, and as the rolls rotate the pipe 13 by frictional contact rotates with them, and they distribute the coating to the pipe in a uniform manner and spread the composition evenly over the entire outer surface of the pipe.

The arms 3 are bent and brought toward each other to form a frame, and the ends are then turned out and fastened together to form a handle 14. As soon as the coating has been applied the arms 3 may be tilted by handle 14., which will raise the roll 7 above the face of the roll 6, so that the pipe rolls by gravity onto knife-edge bars 15. The bars 15 are inclined and are mounted upon brackets 16 and strengthened by braces 17, which are attached to the reservoir. From the bars 15 the coated pipe passes onto a belt 18, which is mounted on rollers 19 and 20. The roller 19 is mounted in brackets 21, which may be secured to the bed 1. Each end of the roller 20 is mounted in a journal 22. The journals 22 may be mounted on the tank 23. 24: is a pulley. on a shaft 25, which extends from the roller 19. 26 is a pulley on the shaft at, and 27 is a crossed belt connecting pulleys 24: and 26 for driving the roller 19 in a direction the reverse of the rotation of rolls 6 and 7.

As the rollers 19 and 20 rotate the belt 18 is moved through water or other cooling agent in the tank and a film of the cooling agent is thus distributed over the entire surface of the belt 18. The coated pipe passes from the bars 15 onto the belt 18 and rolls down the latter, the belt 18 being inclined. As the coating on the pipe comes into contact with the film of water or other cooling agent on the belt 18 the coating is cooled thereby and becomes hardened.

28 designates bars, preferably with knifeedges, which may be supported by the tank 23 and by braces 29, and the coated pipe after rolling down over the belt 18 rolls over the bars 28 and from the latter rolls onto the receiving-rack 30.

The pipe is kept in contin uous rotation from the time it is laid on the coating-rolls until it drops onto the receiving-rack, thus insuring the uniform distribution of the compound.

After the coated pipe has been discharged from the coating-rolls by tilting arms the latter may be restored to normal position and another pipe placed upon the coating-rolls and similarly coated. The rolls 6 and 7 may be constructed of various materials. For instance, they may be of wood, iron, or other material and covered withcanvas, burlap, or other material, or they may be constructed of disks of muslin, felt, or other material placed concentrically on the shaft and compressed to form brush-like rolls having a surface similar to that of a polishing-wheel. Such a construction is illustrated in Fig. VI.

The bars 15 are preferably provided with narrow bearing-faces or knife-edges, so that the surface of the coating will not become marred.

The belt 18instead. of being a single piece, as shown in the drawings, may comprise a series of narrower belts.

Referring to the form shown in Fig. II, the construction is similar to that of the construction shown in Fig. I, except in the following details: The shafts of the coating-rolls are mounted in journals 31, which are bolted to the reservoir 2, and the rolls are spaced apart considerably more than in the former construction. The rollers 32 and 33 carry a belt 34, which runs through the coating mixture in the tank 2 and is thus kept supplied with coating mixture. 35 designates a pair of supports, one of which is mounted on each end of the tank 2 by means of bolts 36, which pass through slots 37 into the framework of the tank. The supports 35 are provided with slots 38. 39 designates a pair of brackets,

which are slotted and bolted to the supports 35. 4:1 designates rollers carried by the brackets 39, and over the rollers 41 is carried a series of endless wires 42. If desired, a single wide belt could be used in place of the wires 42. One of the rollers 41 is driven by a sprocket 43, which may be connected by a chain 1 1 with a sprocket on the shaft of the roller 32, the other roller 11 being driven through the medium of endless wires 12. The pipe to be coated is placed upon the top of the belt 3-1, and the movement of the latter carries it under the wires 42. As the upper surface of the belt 3-;t travels forward, while the under part of the endless wires travel in the opposite direction and with a less velocity than the belt 34, the pipe is thus rotated and carried forward and is coated from the film of composition which is spread on the belt3el. The pipe then passes from under the wires 42, and belt 3a carries it farther forward, and it then rolls down the bars 15 and over the cooling device into the receiving-rack. By loosening the bolt 40 the rollers 41 may be moved up or down to accommodate various sizes of pipes, and the brackets 39 may be adjusted laterally to bring the rollers 41 into the position desired. If preferred, wires could be used in place of the bars 15.

lVhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it should be understood that various changes may be made in the structures shown without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.

If desired, the belt 18 and rollers 19 and 20 could be dispensed with and an inclined table 45 substitilted therefor. A series of narrow bearing-faces for supporting the coated pipe may consist of wires A6, strung along the inclined table. A trough 47 may be provided along the upper edge of the table, and water or other liquid cooling agent may be supplied thereto by .pipe 18. The water runs over the edge of the trough and down the inclined table between the wires 46, the depth of water on the table being maintained about to the narrow bearingfaces. As the pipe rolls down the wires 46 over the table 45, bringing the entire coated surface into contact with the running film of water, the coating is hardened thereby, the rolling movement of the pipe preventing the coating from setting unevenly.

Fig. V illustrates another form of cooling device, in which bars 49, having narrow bearing-faces, are used for supporting and conveying the coated pipe. As the pipe rolls down the bars A9 its coating is cooled by the atmosphere, and the coating is prevented by the rolling of the pipe from flowing in such a way as to form an uneven surface.

By the term coating-rolls in the claims .I mean rolls which directly coat the pipe by their actual contact with the pipe.

'What I claim is 1. A single means for supporting, rotating, and coating a pipe, said means comprising a pair of rolls in substantially the same horizontal plane, the distance between the nearest adjacent surfaces of the rolls being less than the diameter of the pipe to be coated, and means for supplying coating mixture to the rolls.

2. A single means for supporting, rotating, and coating a pipe, said means comprising a pair of rolls in substantially the same horizontal plane, the distance between the nearest adjacent surfaces of the rolls being less than the diameter of the pipe to be coated, means for containing a coating mixture, said rolls sweeping through the mixture and transferring the mixture from their surface to the surface of the pipe.

3. Means for rotating and coating a pipe, and means for rolling the pipe over the surface of a liquid cooling agent for hardening the coating.

1. 'Means for rotating and coating apipe, an inclined support connected therewith, and means for spreading a film of liquid cooling agent over the surface of the inclined support.

5. Means for rotating and coating a pipe, an inclined table connected therewith, and provided with narrow bearing-faces for supporting the pipe, and means for spreading a film of liquid cooling agent over the table.

6. Means for rotating and coating a pipe, an inclined table connected therewith, wires extended along the table providing narrow bearing-faces for supporting the pipe, and means for spreading a film of liquid cooling agent over the table.

7. Parallel rolls for supporting, rotating and coating a pipe, means for supplying the rolls with coating material, and means for supporting one of said rolls comprising a pair of arms pivoted concentrically with the axis of the other roll.

8. Parallel rolls for supporting, rotating and coating a pipe, means for supplying the rolls with coating material, a pair of arms supporting one of said rolls and pivoted concentrically with axis of the other roll, a frame connecting the arms and provided with a handle.

9. Means for rotating and coating a pipe comprising a pair of coating-rolls, and means for rolling the pipe over the surface of a liquid cooling agent for hardening the coating.

10. Means for rotating and coating a pipe comprising a pair of coating-rolls, means for supplying the rolls with coating material, an inclined support for receiving the coated pipe, and means for spreading a film of liquid cooling agent over the surface of the inclined support.

11. Means for rotating and coating a pipe comprising a pair of coating-rolls, means for supplying the rolls with coating material, an inclined table provided with narrow bearingfaces for supporting the pipe, and means for spreading a film of liquid cooling agent over the table.

12. Means for rotating and coating a pipe comprising a pair of coating-rolls, means for supplying the rolls with coating material, an inclined table, wires extended along the table and providing narrow bearing-faces adapted to support the pipe, and means for spreading a film of liquid cooling agent over the table.

13. Means for rotating and coating a pipe,

means for rolling the pi pc and cooling the c0ating comprising an inclined table, a trough at the upper edge of the table, and means for supplying a liquid cooling agent to the trough.

In testimony Whereoll have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, this 17th clay of July, 1903.

ALEXANDER WATSON BUUII ANAN.

\Vitnesses:

GEORGE T. HACKLEY, JULTA TOWNSEND. 

